Press Review

" A simple Network in Switzerland "

by Jennifer Hagstrom

When most people think of Switzerland, they think of mountains or money. What they may not realize is that Switzerland is also becoming a pioneer in interoperable radio communications by being one of the first European countries to install a nationwide radio network encompassing virtually all public services. Other European countries, such as France and Belgium, are integrating some or all of their emergency services under one radio umbrella, but Switzerland is taking this good idea even farther.

The new system will replace Switzerland's existing hundred or so radio networks, which operate in and serve its 26 cantons. Swiss authorities considered the idea of a unified national network because any serious crisis -weather-related, political, security, or otherwise -presented serious problems in inter-agency and inter-cantonal communications. These problems were brought home to them by incidents like the natural disaster at Sachseln, the Zurich-Affoltern train crash, or the enhanced security required at the world Zionist conference in 1997.

Switzerland's communications problems are worsened because of interference in its international cities like Geneva.

As a result, Polycom, a working group made up of cantonal and local police agencies, federal authorities, fire and rescue brigades, health authorities, civil protection units and border patrols, decided unanimously to explore the single-network option in 1996. The decision was helped along because some user agencies were facing an immediate need for system replacement, and because Switzerland is hosting Expo 2001, which will take place in several cantons, underscoring the need for interoperability across the nation.

In the months that followed the decision, the user agencies drew up their system requirements and specifications, and decided a private operator should manage the construction, finance and operation of the network on a national basis. Client agencies would need to have someone within their dispatch centers who was knowledgeable enough to set up talk groups and do in-house operational maintenance and set-up. They would pay a yearly subscriber fee that would cover the cost of infrastructure maintenance, upgrades or replacements, and would also be responsible for the purchase of their own mobile radio equipment.

Swisscom, the principal provider of telecommunications service in Switzerland, won the contract to privately operate the system.

The participants agreed to install a Tetrapol technology system. One reason for selecting Tetrapol is that it isn't a product, but rather is a standard met by equipment offered by several suppliers, so Switzerland runs less risk of purchasing equipment that will subsequently be discontinued. Another is that the technology allows Switzerland to make use of existing sites - important because of the up-to-three-year waiting period to erect new towers in some parts of Switzerland ! - while avoiding interference with other systems already installed on them. The use of existing sites will also assist in creating a graceful migration to the new system. A third reason is that Tetrapol technology, which uses FDMA modulation, will allow Switzerland to get border-to-border coverage using far fewer stations than other technologies, a significant issue given the reception difficulties caused by its mountain-and-valley topography.

" The topology of the country is complex, reception is difficult and FDMA is best suited to these conditions; we calculated that other systems would have required up to 50 percent more stations ! " said Claude Georges of Swisscom.

The system will actually be two distinct networks functioning as one. One network will focus on each canton's highly populated areas, while the other will consist of fewer channels routed through mountain transmitters with greater coverage to allow rural communication. The switchover from the primary (high-density) network to the mountain network will be automatic and will occur as the user migrates out of the receiver range of the high-density network.

The Swiss network will serve the federal, military, cantonal, municipal, railway and border police forces, road maintenance services, prisons, civil protection agencies, fire and EMS services as well as hospitals and doctors, mountain and water rescue units, emergency helicopters, private security companies, private emergency transport companies, gas and electric utilities, wildlife surveillance agencies, and the army's territorial and rescue forces. Some Swiss airports are also considering coming on board. According to Swisscom, this amounts to a staggering 40, 000 users nationwide, with the ability to expand to 80, 000.

Although Switzerland is moving to one unified system, many agencies are looking forward to different benefits they'll receive as a result of its implementation. Zurich City Police, for example, is already on a digital system similar to the one currently being built.

" But we will now have contact with the Cantonspolizei ( the canton police department), which are equivalent to your state police, " said Peter Keller, chief engineer for the Zurich City Police . Currently, Zurich has considerable contact with the canton police agencies that has to be handled by telephone via a dispatch center, much of which can be done directly through interoperability on the new system. Zurich City Police's 500 users are also upgrading to MDTs on the new system, according to Keller.

But for Swiss border patrol, the big benefit is simpler, and more far-reaching - it will allow the divisions of the border patrol to talk to each other, giving the entire organization interoperability within itself for the first time.

" For us, it is very important that we have access to the police stations, and our own other sectors, so we can all work together. Under the old system, we can't do this ", said Werner Beyeler, who handles technical support for the Swiss border patrol in Bern. The Swiss border patrol will contribute 2, 000 users to the system when it is complete. " We have 17 sectors. On this system, each is alone - if we have an emergency or some special action with the police or with other sectors, all of us can't talk to each other. We have problems connecting. With the new system, we can make those connections. "

One border region's installation was completed during 1998. Another 180 base stations are scheduled for installation in 1999, with the entire 500-station network being completed by the end of 2001. Tetrapol technology,

Tetrapol technology is modular, uses FDMA technology and requires a low bandwidth (12.5 kHz). It is designed to provide end-to-end encrypted or clear voice and data transmission, and also allows a direct radio mode. Fully digital, Tetrapol technology provides voices and data transmission at a rate nearly seven times higher than analog transmission networks.

The Tetrapol standard is recognized by the Schengen group, which comprises the police forces of twelve European Union countries that are signatories to the Schengen agreement. The agreement stipulates that infrastructure equipment purchases made by the signatory nations be coordinated to ensure compatibility across national borders. Both Tetra and Tetrapol technologies meet this stipulation.

A feature of Tetrapol technology is the existence of the Tetrapol Forum, a non-profit organization serving the users and manufacturers of Tetrapol technology. One objective the forum has accomplished is to ensure interoperability of equipment from one Tetrapol manufacturer to another by requiring each manufacturing member of the forum to share Tetrapol-related patents with other members. This allows the forum to meet another objective, which is to offer potential customers a variety of Tetrapol technology suppliers that have worked together to develop it, thus making available turnkey networks in shorter order and at lower cost. The forum also works toward telecommunications standardization and publishes the Tetrapol News and the Tetrapol Flash, both of which are used to promote the technology.

The result of the forum's efforts has been to make it easier and more cost effective for manufacturers to enter the marketplace while giving customers the security of knowing they are not relying on one manufacturer or on a product in danger of discontinuation.

Tetrapol technology has been chosen by 25 public and private organizations in 15 countries around the world, with half of them being in Europe. When fully deployed, these Tetrapol networks will serve over 450, 000 users worldwide.

Users of these Tetrapol networks include Rubis (the national network for the French gendarmerie), Acropol (the national network for the French police), Iris ( the network for the French national railways), Pegas (the national network for the interior and defense ministries of Czechoslovakia), Nexus (the network for the Spanish province of Catalonia), Legacom (the pilot network for the Spanish police in Madrid), BMW, the Frankfurt airport, the Berlin transit authority, and the Royal Thai Police network in Bangkok, among others.

Extract from Public Safety (English) - March, 1999